Affliction
by Lixy and Crystal Child
Summary: TAITO. Growing up is hard. You change. Your friends change. How do you survive things you can't control? As if the real world wasn't bad enough, someone is interfering with the Digiworld, expanding in ways it wasn't meant to go. You're going to need all the Friendship and Courage you can get.
1. Chapter 1

A/N (Crystal Child): Welcome to Affliction! Before we get this party started, just a quick note, this story is written in a role-playing format. I write as Matt and Lixy as Tai, and we kind of share the other characters (although I have staked a claim on Izzy and Lixy has taken over Sora). I have tried to edit our 'turns' in a way to make the story flow better, but some parts might seem a bit wonky.

Again; this is a TAITO pairing, aka YAOI. If you don't know the term, hit the back button, you probably don't want to be here.

 **AFFLICTION**

- **CH1** -

The last thing Matt Ishida ever wanted to admit to doing was that he'd had his hands in another guy's pants. That being said, there was a logical reason his left hand was currently captured in the waistband of Taichi Yagami's. There was some sort of logic, but he still wasn't quite sure what it was, other than it had involved Sora's plotting and a handful of ice cubes.

Tai barely had time to react as the cold ice met warm skin. He gave a sharp gasp, turning and trying to push the other away from him. He took a handful of the others shirt, "Don't you dare!" he tried to grab the others wrist to pull his hand away with the ice.

He let the cube slip from his fingers with a half-grin and held up his empty hand, "Too late."

His eyes went wide as he pushed the other away and gave a yelp as he tried to shimmy the ice out of his shorts "Shit!"

The blonde laughed as he caught himself and dropped down to sit on a bench behind him, "A gift from your 'girlfriend'. She's sad she had to leave early and miss your epic win."

He shimmied the ice out of his shorts and glared at the other, "Stop calling her that, you know she's not." He rolled his eyes and bent down to pick up the ice before walking towards Matt.

"But it's such an easy way to get a rise out of you."

"Ya?" he smirked and reached for Matt, ice in hand.

Blue eyes widened, " Don't you dare."

"No getting away." He grinned and cut off his exit as he reached out to press a hand on his chest and brought the ice closer to him.

One hand shot out to grab the wrist with the ice, while the other grabbed the one on his chest. Shit, he hated how his skin tingled where the other boy touched him. It was distracting and that damn ice was getting closer.

"Oh get a room, you two!" A familiar voice from nearby.

Oh thank you, all that was holy, a distraction.

Tai rolled his eyes and looked over to see Izzy standing there "Funny. He put ice down my pants so it's only fair" He smirked and tried once more, this time aiming to put it down his shirt.

"Ah, fuck." He released his grip on Tai and pushed his way to standing, trying to shake the cube out.

Izzy grinned sheepishly at the two of them, and bit back another comment about their relationship, instead switching topic, " Did you finish your term paper yet?"

Matt issued a victory noise as the cube landed harmlessly in the grass, then turned his attention, "Was going to finish tonight, but Tai needed cheerleaders."

"Shame i never got any," He bounced his eyebrows and grinned "Got stuck with Matt!" The brunette stepped away, going to fetch his bag to sling it over his shoulder, still oblivious to Matt's reactions.

He flipped his blonde hair out of his eye and watched Tai out of the corner of it, before flipping him the bird, "You should be basking in my glory."

"Perhaps you should be bathing off that _glory_." he smirked and headed for the exit, pausing to look at him and walk backwards, "You got that gig on tonight?"

"Yeah, TK says Kari is coming with him, you coming?"

"Ahem, term paper?"

Matt waved a vague hand, "I'll get mine done. Tai'll write his 5 minutes into class."

"And you know it will be good. What's the point in writing it so far ahead when I can cram it in last moment?" he grinned.

Matt threw his bag over his shoulder and followed his two friends.

Izzy frowned and shook his head, "How did you pass middle school?"

"By the skin of my teeth," he grinned and headed for the bike rack "And good friends, you should know that."

"By that he means he got really good at cheating."

"Hey! I don't cheat!"

"Uh-huh."

He rolled his eyes "Don't make me tackle you."

"Ooh, I'm so scared. Izzy will protect me."

"You wish."

"Aww, Iz, that hurts my feeling."

"I _will_ make you eat dirt." The brunette pretended to roll up his sleeves.

"Just don't hurt his face, it's all he's got going for him."

"Hey!"

Tai laughed, unlocking his bike, "That burn is worse then my tackling you."

Matt pouted a little, "So," He switched subjects, "Are you coming tonight or not?"

"Ya, I'll be there" he grinned, "make sure it's good, eh?"

"Always." He checked his watch, "TK should be out now, I'll catch you bitches later."

Izzy unlocked his own bike and pulled it out before saying his goodbye to the blonde.

Tai gave him the finger, grinning a bit before he got up onto his bike, "So...did you just come here to pester me about homework?" He look at Izzy.

"Not really. Was a good excuse, though."

"Got something else on your mind?"

He cast a glance at the blonde retreating from them and turned his attention back to Tai as he climbed on his bike, "Anything on yours?"

Tai raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, "Never mind. Mimi called me earlier and left me a twenty minute voicemail. Something about her nails. You should call her and leave her some rambling thing on soccer." 

* * *

Tai had changed for the show, always one to make a decent attempt to look good even if it was just for himself. Some nice tight pants and a shirt with an open jacket over top. At least he could pass as 20 if he wanted a drink. 

* * *

The last few minutes before he went on stage were always the worst. When fight-or-flight kicked in and he always had to give himself a few moments alone to put himself together. Normally, TK came backstage to keep him company in comfortable silence, but he had Hikari and, presumably, Tai with him.

Tai.

That jerk.

Screwed with his cool in ways he didn't like. And he wasn't even remotely aware of what he did. Matt took another look in the mirror and adjusted his eyeliner, before steeling himself and grabbing his guitar. The stage called and who was he to neglect it? 

* * *

Tai was easy to spot in the bar, sitting pretty close up and lounging in the chair in his outfit. Matt's music was good and made the girls cream their panties, smirking as he watched some. Shit, how could he not admit that Matt was hot up on that stage. Honestly...if he was a chick...

He nibbled his lip a bit and cleared his mind of those thoughts, he was not a chick, and neither was Matt so there was no need to think about that. 

* * *

His shirt came open halfway through the show, only increasing the screaming girls in the audience. He couldn't see much due to the bright lights, but it sounded like a full house.

He let the notes of the last song of their set die off as he ran his hand through sweaty hair and took a bow with his bandmates. Beautiful show. He smiled to himself and let it linger as he straightened back up, enjoying the adrenaline in his system. No way he was sleeping tonight.

Tai smirked to himself as he watched, catching himself tracking the lines of the others body, where his hips joined the muscles along them.

He bit his lip and looked away, what the hell was he doing? This was Matt and neither of them were like this right? The song had ended by the time he turned back, the crowd cheering.

The blonde waved shortly to the audience, then clapped a hand on his bassists shoulder and followed him backstage. They stopped to take a few photos and sign a few autographs before he was able to tuck his guitar away safely and push out into the crowded club, aiming for the bar for a drink.

The bartender flashed him a sly smile and gave him the signal he'd help him in a minute. Roy wasn't all that bad looking, so Matt flashed a seductive grin and a nod, and leaned against the bar, trying to ignore the drunk girl two stools down from him.

Tai had spotted him leaving the back and heading to the bar. He grinned to himself a bit and headed over. He paused when he got closer, noticing the drunk girl attempting to get Matt's attention and he smirked and as a joke he went wrapped an arm around Matt's waist. "You know, in situations like this, girls will present to be girlfriends." He gave a bit of a laugh.

"But you're so much better than them." He sighed out and turned enough to put his arm around Tai's shoulder, pleased with the little shiver the others heat gave him.

"Better than who? The drunk chick to the side or the lesbian girlfriends?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Everyone, Tai." He leaned his weight on him, "You're better than all of em."

The bartender looked a little disappointed, but brought him his regular drink, which he downed half of as soon as his hand got the glass.

Tai raised an eyebrow and looked back at Matt "Alright, who are you and what did you do with Matt?" He slipped his arm off of him and put his hands up in mock defense.

"Har har. Blame the adrenaline, you can't kill the good mood." He turned to lean his back and elbows on the bar, looking at his best friend through half-leaded eyelashes, "Did the show make your high standards?"

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "I guess it was good." He tilted his head a bit "Singer's a bit of a showoff though, maybe they need a new one." He smirked.

"Yeah, right, he's irreplaceable. And rather good looking if I do say so myself." He ran his fingers through his sweaty hair again, "But he could use a shower, now."

He smirked a bit, "Yeah," he chuckled, and raised a brow as the guy sitting beside them got up to leave so he stole the seat and ordered his own drink from the bartender, hoping he could pass for 20 like Matt did.

The bartender quirked an eyebrow, but when Matt nodded he shrugged and got him the drink and a refill for the blonde.

Matt turned and sank into the stool with a pleased sigh, "Nothing like a strong drink to start a wild evening."

Tai raised an eyebrow, "You planning on having a wild evening?" He grinned and grabbed his drink with a thankful nod to the bartender. "What's your pla-shit…" He had gone to take a sip, the drink spilling a bit on his shirt. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a napkin "-plan?"

"Honestly, Tai, you don't need to spill on yourself if you want to take your shirt off." He downed his second drink, "And my plan is to transition to a dance floor until they kick me out. After I've hit my max drink quota."

Tai rolled his eyes, "Good thing this is not white." He looked to the dance floor, looking for any decent girls, "the floor's a bit sparse tonight."

"Only coz I'm not owning it yet." He slid his glass back towards the bartender and pulled out his wallet, slapping a few bills on the bartop and signaled it was for both their drinks, "Besides, who needs a dance partner?" He clapped a hand on Tai's shoulder, "just as fun alone."

He let his fingers slid off his best friend and headed for the pulsing lights and beat.

Tai blinked, the slide of the others fingers gave him a little shiver. He watched the other head out to the dance floor, before he downed his own drink and turned to watch. His elbows rested on the bar as he did so.

Matt knew how people worked and true to his word, the dance floor filled around him, a mass of bodies moving to the steady bass line. Ah, he loved this. Nothing mattered out here, he could just throw everything away for a while and enjoy himself. The surge of alcohol in his system made him laugh out loud, and turned to dance with a body pressing against him.

Tai watched for a moment, Matt seemed to love the dance floor and it encouraged lots more to join...why the hell was he sitting here staring? He pushed up to join the dancing parties and started dancing himself with a grin.

It was like a tidal wave and the music only got louder, bodies becoming a sea around him, he grinned cheekily when he spotted Tai joining the fray,and spotted his kid brother and his "not"girlfriend on the fringes. Ahh, what a good night this was already turning into.

The evening continued to get better, Tai having downed a few more drinks and one of the hotter girls had taken to him. He danced care free as his school studies had been. He wrapped an arm around her waist and seemed to pay little attention to Matt.

Matt was keeping an eye on his best friend, but the other seemed to be having the time of his life with quite a looker. It bothered him, but he really wasn't sure why. An arm hooked around his waist and he found himself suddenly attached to Kari, who cast a glance at her brother then back at him.

"Aren't you going to save him from himself?" She had to lean close to his ear for him to hear her.

He put his own hand on her and leaned to her ear, "Why? Let him have his fun."

She frowned disapproving at him and he tried to brush it off, "You and I both know why, Matt."

He shook his head, "It's fine, Kari, let him be."

He could visibly see her sigh and shake her head before she leaned up to his ear again, "TK and I are going home, make sure he doesn't end up in an alley, kay?"

"Fine, fine, thanks for coming."

She hugged him and slipped into the crowd again, where he quickly lost sight of her. Whatever, he wasn't Tai's babysitter.

A warm body pressed up against him from behind and distracted his inebriated mind.

Besides, if Tai was gonna have his fun, Matt could too.

Tai danced with the woman a bit longer, looking up to give a grin at Matt but the grin faltered a bit as he saw Matt, completely enjoying himself as he danced with another guy and very very closely.

He laughed as he half-caught whatever horrible pickup line the guy used, and turned in the arms on his waist to study his new dance partner. Hm, not bad. Not Tai, but not bad.

Well, _that_ thought caught him off guard. But he shoved it aside to lazily drape his arms over the guys shoulders.

He never thought he would feel this kind of jealousy over Matt, or even Matt with another _guy._ Was Matt really into guys? Was he just doing it as a joke..? No, that look on Matt's face was not a joke.

He had not realized how long he had been staring until a voice broke through his thoughts, "Who the hell do you think you are, that's _**my**_ girlfriend, asshole."

Tai blinked, look at the man who was shouting at him "I...uh...well...she came to me, I didn't go to her..." he laughed a bit, bad choice.

Matt heard yelling. He blinked and dropped his arms, focusing on the noise, dance partner forgotten. _Tai_. His eyes flew to where he'd last seen the brunette. Well _that_ didn't look good. He waved an apologetic hand at his protesting partner before he started shoving his way through the sea of people.

The scene Matt got to was a fist hitting his best friend squarely in the jaw and Tai stumbling back, a hand flying up to his injured cheek, "Woah! What the fuck dude!?" He spat a bit of blood, lucky his jaw was not broken. "Don't get pissed at me if your girlfriend is not happy with an asshole like you."

This only made the guy angrier and he all but lunged at Tai with a shout.

Matt pulled Tai back by his collar at the last possible second, "Whoa there, that's enough of that, Yagami." He turned towards the seething man, "And you should take it up with her, jackass. Just coz you lack the moves doesn't mean you need to take it out on the poor drunk guy she's attached herself to."

"Poor drunk guy?" Tai rolled his eyes, stumbling to the side away from the furious man.

"Keep him away from her, or I'll fucking kill em, i swear."

"Wouldn't be surprised jackass."

"Aaaand this is our queue to go home, Tai."

"Aww come on, you're going to let this jerk ruin it?" he could still taste a bit of blood. Probably not a good idea to stay anyway, "fine, fine. Fuckin asshole…" he muttered quietly

"Let me get my guitar and we'll go, okay? Go cool your head outside."

"My head is cool, he's not." Tai huffed but still went outside, the other jerk grabbing his girlfriend by the arm to take her to the other side of the bar.

Tai huffed, back against the wall as he waited, leg up and arms cross over his chest as he worked his sore jaw a bit.

He emerged with his guitar bag over his shoulder, pausing to look around to find Tai,before making a beeline for him, "Well that was fun while it lasted."

"Yeah.. sorry.." he reached up to rub his jaw "Did not mean to cut your night short.. looked like you were uh...having fun…"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, well...uh." He dropped his hand to his side, "Sorry it didn't work out for you."

"Nah, was just a chick to dance with." He shrugged and gave a bit of a nervous chuckle, wondering if he should even bring up the fact Matt had been all over another guy.

He started walking, letting his stride be lazy. Trying desperately to cover the panic that suddenly hit him. He'd been dancing with a guy. And Tai had seen it. Goddamn, no way to dig out of that hole if he brought it up.

"So.. uh.." he shoved his hands in his pockets, following after the other "I didn't ruin your whole night… did I?"

"You couldn't ruin my night if you tried. How's the face?"

"A little sore.. but fine." Shit, why was Matt being so nice? It was like a switch had changed in his mind a bit ago. "So...I can't ruin your night eh..? even if I do...this?" he reached out and grabbed his guitar, stealing it from him.

"HEY!" He made a useless grab after it, "I'll kill you if you break it!"

"Will you?" he smirked and kept it out of the others reach.

"Tai!"

He waggled his eyebrows "Yeah?"

He frowned, "Give it back." He made a grab for it again.

He avoided the grab, turning it away from him, just out of the others reach.

He grabbed the nearest thing he could, Tai's waist, and attempted another grab, "I'm going to murder you in your sleep."

He laughed, leaning a bit away from him to hold out the case by the handle to stop the other from reaching it.

"Fine." He dropped his hold and switched tactics, "You can carry it home for me then. Never knew you were so thoughtful."

He rolled his eyes, "Oh, you are _no_ fun." He smirked and acted as if he was going to throw the case.

"I swear to God..."

"Big baby," he smirked again before handing it to him.

He hugged it to his chest like his life depended on it, "Jerk."

He stuck his tongue out and grinned as he went to walk past him to continue walking.

He shot him a glare and slung his guitar back on his arm, "Threatening my baby...jeeze you've got some nerve." He hurried to catch up to him, and knocked him up the backside of his head.

"OW!" Tai reached for his head and pouted, "That hurt my whole face!"

"Good."

He glared at him for a moment, "You know I DID just get punched in the face." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Aww, does little Taichi want me to kiss it and make it better?"

He hesitated a moment before he smirked, "Go ahead."

He quirked an eyebrow at him. But, never one to back down from his best friend, he casually swung an arm around Tai's shoulder and landed a loud smacking kiss on his cheek, releasing him just as quickly and continued walking.

He was not sure how the other would have reacted, of course, he did not take it seriously, "That...actually just made it hurt more." He rolled his eyes and rubbed the injury lightly.

He paused mid-step and turned back to him, "Fine, big baby, c'mere."

He blinked, raising an eyebrow and kinda made a step towards him.

 _Don't even go there, Matt. Bad idea..._ But god forbid he listen to himself and instead cupped Tai's face with both hands, keeping firm eye contact, and leaned in. He could feel the others heat again and he fought to ignore it as he carefully pressed his lips against the bruising skin again, feather light.

He did not move, feeling himself flush a bit. What the hell? His cheeks were hot and he had to clear his throat a bit.

He pulled back intentionally slow, slapping on his seductive smile, "Better?"

He stared at him for a moment, not meaning to be silent before it clicked in he was being _awkwardly_ silent and he looked away, "Ah yeah... I guess...? Like really, what does a kiss do anyway?"

Matt released his hold, still smirking, "Plenty, apparently."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking, looking up at the dark sky. He was most definitely sober now, and his thoughts were catching up with him. Shit. What a night.

Tai rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right." He let the other get a few steps up in front of him, good.. maybe he did not notice how red his cheeks were?

He took a deep breath and thanked the stars that they made it to the corner where they'd have to split up. He'd probably do something even stupider if they were together much longer.

"Go put some ice on that and get some sleep."

"You...Uh...sober enough to get home good..?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, pretty sure I'll make it. Watching my best friend get punched kinda killed the liquor buzz."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah...Take it easy, ok?"

"Thanks for coming to the show. It means a lot."

Tai smiled at him, "Of course man, I wouldn't miss it if I had a choice."

"I'll text you tomorrow." He raised a hand in a casual wave and headed toward his apartment complex.

He pushed his hands into his pockets, heading his own way with odd thoughts in his mind. Hell...he did NOT have a crush on Matt, right? 

* * *

Matt left the lights in his apartment off, even though there was no one there for them to bother, and tossed his keys on the table next to his book bag from earlier in the day and slung his guitar into a kitchen chair. Silence echoed around him and he instantly regretted leaving Tai behind.

Shower. He shed his clothes as he walked to his bathroom. A shower would clear his brain and maybe then he could get some sleep.

He made it as hot as he could handle and stayed until it turned cold, watching water circle the drain. He was going to have to admit it to Tai. Not the whole you-make-me-tingly thing. But the gay thing. Yeah. Not bi. Flamingly homosexual. He didn't think it would change Tai's opinion of him much, but...he chewed on his lip. You never know a person as well as you think you do.

He reached out and slammed the water off.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N (CC): Not sure how often these will actually get put out, we're into Ch4 (and about 5k more words) right now, but here's Ch2!

 **AFFLICTION**

- **CH2** -

Tai evening was not the greatest as well, his jaw hurt and now he had questions about his best friend he was afraid to ask. He tossed and turned a but in his sleep as he tried to force his active mind to sleep.

The next day started out as uneventful, besides the nice bruising along his jaw that he constantly got asked about. It was a break between classes when he spotted Matt heading out of his class, "Yo! Matt! Wait up!"

Matt paused, turning towards the voice, pulling a sucker out of his mouth, "Nice shiner."

"Not a shiner, shiners are black eyes, duh." He rolled his eyes before he grinned, "Did you forget your phone today? You said you would text me."

He shrugged, "Been busy this morning. You finish your paper?"

His grin faded and he paled a little, eyes widening at Matt, "Oh….shit."

"Nice."

"Shit! I got to go, talk to you later!" He took off for the computer lab, lucky he still had a bit of time before that class.

Matt laughed softly and watched him run off, enjoying his candy for a moment, before he pulled his phone from his pocket, frowning at 14 missed calls from a number he didn't recognize. He shoved it back away and continued on his trek down the hall.

A man stood at the edge of the school grounds, looking up at the second floor classroom, knowing full well Matt was in that class. He frowned, looking down at his own phone and hit redial.

Matt felt his phone buzz again, and pulled it out to look once more. _Again?_ Well, he was on break so he hit the green button and answered, "Ishida."

"Hello?" The voice sounded a bit familiar, "Matt?" The speaker knew very well who it was. "Finally got a hold of you!"

He frowned, "Who is this?"

"You don't remember? You gave me your number last night!"

Last night? His frown grew deeper, he didn't give his number out last night, "I'm sorry, but...who is this?" He asked again.

"You're telling me you can't remember dancing with me last night? How much did you have to drink?"

His eyes widened. Okay, he _knew_ he didn't give the guy his number. Did one of his band…? "I'm sorry, I'm in classes right now, I can't really talk…"

"I'll call back later then! When do you finish class?" The voice was way too excited about the prospect.

"I'm not sure, I'll have things going on after class. Can I just call you back?" Shit, he was so bad at these letting-them-down-gently things. And he'd kill whoever handed out his number. One of his classmates flagged him with their hand that class was resuming soon.

"Well, I'll call you later that, dont worry bout it!" the other voice suddenly sounded a bit disappointed, almost...angry? There was a click and the call ended.

The man looked up again, frowning at the building and turned away, planning on returning later.

Matt stared at his phone screen for a moment,shook his head, and headed back to his classroom, feeling highly unsettled.

* * *

Matt stayed after school to watch Tai's soccer practice, sitting in the stands with Izzy and Sora,trying to ignore his phone going off in his pocket for what felt like the millionth time.

Sora was standing, giving a ridiculous cheer for Tai as he played. Tai himself rolling his eyes at the cheer.

He came up to the stands at the end of practice, a bit sweaty and holding the ball, "Yo," He grinned over at them, "having fun watching?"

 _Always._ He watched a ball of sweat track down Tai's cheek before answering, "Meh. Paint drying might be more fun."

Tai rolled his eyes, "I should throw this at you." He held up the soccer ball in a mock threat only to have Sora jump up and wrap her arms around him.

"Mnn, no throwing your balls at Matt..." she smirked a bit, winking at Izzy on the side.

Izzy rolled his eyes and typed something on his laptop.

Matt resisted a childish snicker at the double meaning, but replied, "Do it and you won't live to see graduation." Fuck, there went his phone again. This was getting ridiculous.

Tai laughed, "You know how wrong that sounds Sora?" He couldn't throw the ball even if he wanted to, anyway. "Yo, Matt, we still up for that study session tonight?" He tried to ignore Sora hanging off of him as he tried to make his way to sit next to his redheaded friend.

Izzy snorted, "You? Study?"

Matt glanced at his phone screen and hit the button to send the call to voicemail, "Hm? Oh, yeah, I'll make something if you want food too."

"Pft, I always want food." He managed to wiggle out of Sora's hug and she grinned. He turned to Izzy and rolled his eyes, "Just because I finished that paper just as class was starting does not mean I don't study for tests."\

"I'm amazed you even did that much." Pause, "Matt? You okay?"

"Huh?" he answered distractedly, before looking at Izzy, "Yeah, yeah, fine."

"Watching porn on your phone again?" Tai looked over, trying to see Matt's phone.

"Tai!" Sora reached over, smacking him lightly.

"Tche, please, I'm not you and not in Chemistry class." He retorted.

"Hey! That was an accident! It was attached to an email!" He pursed his lips.

"Whatever you say, hornball." He turned his phone completely off. He'd have to talk to Tai about it later, when everyone else was gone. Maybe the idiot would have an idea of how to handle it, "Go finish your practice."

Izzy glanced at his watch and started putting away his laptop, "It's almost 4:30, I need to go home, message me if you've got questions during your 'studying'." he made quotations in the air with his fingers.

"I gotta get home too, you guys have fun." Sora smirked a bit, Tai remained as clueless as ever to the look as he waved them off and ran back onto the field to wrap up practice.

Matt watched Izzy and Sora's retreat from the stands, then slung his bag over his shoulder. He should probably go as well, and hit the supermarket before the bottomless pit descended on his food supply.

* * *

Tai was waiting at Matt's apartment door, having brought a bit of food himself, knowing he was a big eater and Matt was always the one cooking. He knocked on the door and grinned, waiting for the other to answer.

The door swung open and amazing delicious smells spilled out of the apartment.

"Sometimes I think I should just give you a key." Was the blonde's greeting, as he turned and headed back for the kitchen.

"Why, so I can barge in on you at indecent hours?" He teased and made his way to the living room, plopping some food containers on the coffee table, "Mmnn...that smells good...what ya making?" He flopped down on the couch, stretch his body to almost cover the whole thing.

"Some people call it dinner. Don't get comfy, it's almost ready."

"Too late, I'm already comfy, can't you just feed it to me?" He teased.

"Do you want me to pre-chew it for you too?"

"You gonna feed me like a mama bird?" He teased and made kissy lips.

"Only if you ask really nice." A timer went off and he pulled a pan out of the oven and served up two plates. He dug out silverware and brought both plates to the living area, swing them on the coffee table and shoving Tai's feet off the couch so he could sit.

Tai laughed and shifted over so the other had room and took a good sniff of the food, "You'll make someone a good housewife someday." He grabbed the chopsticks and went to dig in.

He snorted, "And you'll make a wonderful couch potato. You're too much work now, I can't imagine 'housewifing' anyone full time."

"At least I bring home the bacon," He grinned, mouth full already and pointed at the food on the table he'd brought with.

"For you to stuff your face with yourself." He moved the lip of the plastic bag worry his own chopsticks to peer inside.

"Hey! I brought stuff you like too! I'm not that selfish!" He gave a pout.

"Watch that lip or I might rip it off." His phone started vibrating on the kitchen counter. He slammed down his chopsticks with a " _goddamn_ it." And rose to go hang the call up.

Tai raised an eyebrow at Matt, "Whats up?" Tai glanced at the cell phone, his grin fading at Matt's anger.

He hit the end call button and muted the phone, bringing it over to show his best friend the screen. 27 missed calls. Since he'd cleared it after school.

"Holy shit dude," he took the phone and looked at it, scrolling to see the number "Who is it?"

"Um..." Right...that other thing. He'd been so angry he forgot, "It's...uh...the guy I was dancing with...last night."

"Oh" He blinked and looked down at the phone. He had not asked Matt anything yet, but it had been on his mind, especially last night. And that was the main reason he had not gotten his paper done the night before.

"He uh.. sounds annoying."

"That's not helpful." He took the phone back, "I never gave him my number. And is been like this, all day."

"Block his number." He took a mouthful of food and stared hard at his plate, not seeming to react much about him dancing with a guy...or maybe he was just trying to hide it.

"I was hoping you'd know how..."

"Here," he reached out for the phone again, swallowing the food in his mouth.

Matt gave it back to him. The phone lit up again in Tai's hand. Matt made another frustrated noise and threw himself back into his seat and shoveled a bite into his mouth, forcing himself to eat.

Tai turned it to voicemail once more, then proceeded to add him to contacts so he could block the number "There, that should stop the creepoid."

"Thanks." He muttered, "I hope so."

He grinned and handed the phone back "Wonder how he got your number."

He frowned, looked at the screen one more time before he tossed it on the table, face down, "I'll kill whoever handed it out."

"Yeah...not cool..." He went a bit silent, eating his food.

He ate in silence for a few moments. Fuck it. "So, uh..." He set his chopsticks down, "I'm gay."

That was that. And now it was out.


End file.
